by Lucia Maschler

According to the STA handbook, “cell phones and blackberries are not to be used during the school day. Cell phones will be confiscated if students use them during the day and will be returned by the end of the day or the following school day.” Not only are students not allowed to be on their phones, but “due to the volume of incoming calls, office telephones are unavailable to students during school hours.” But how practical is this rule? In a school where every students uses a netbook and has access to some of the most useful forms of technology, why are cell phones still banned?

STA’s technology has come a long way since I walked through the doors as a freshman. I remember having to sprint to the library and (sometimes even physically) fight girls to use one of the five desktop computers. I remember copying notes off of an overhead projector in Latin. And I sure do remember the glorious days before PowerSchool. But now every student has a netbook, almost every classroom is equipped with a Smartboard, and (unfortunately) parents have instantaneous access to our grades. So why has our cell phone rule not evolved with these changes?

There are many benefits to students being allowed to use their cell phones during certain parts of the school day. One being that it would cut down on texting during class.

Does that logic seem problematic? Let me explain.

I won’t even try to deny it: there are many students who sneakily text during an important geometry lesson. But I’m willing to bet that a majority of the time the person is texting a family member. The reason students feel they have to text in class is because there isn’t any other time to get a hold of who they’re trying to contact. It’s easier to text in class and not get caught than in the hall or during free because it’s easier to hide it from the teacher. But if we were allowed to use our phones during lunch or passing periods to get that stuff done, we could concentrate on the lessons in class.

And what things could we possibly need to talk to our parents about during school, you may ask?

What if I forgot my lunch? Or had a headache and wanted to go home? Or remembered I couldn’t take carpool home? Or just had a question that needed to be answered immediately?

I’m willing to bet that most students have had at least one of the above situations happen to them.

If I didn’t break the rule and text my mom, what would I do? The above rule in the handbook says that office phones wouldn’t be available for me to use. Do I have to resort to communicating telepathically with my mom? Or do I have to beg Ms. Hoecker for her phone? Should I send up smoke signals and hope my mom sees them? What does the administration want me to do?

Besides just the basic practical reasons, cell phones should be allowed at least during lunch because it’s our free time. How can someone playing Temple Run on their iPhone be any worse than a group of 10 screaming girls playing Sporcle on their netbooks? How is texting during lunch any different than moodling during a free? How is checking Twitter or Facebook updates that much more distracting than Yahoo! news?  If the school gives us unstructured down time, we have to learn how to get our work done despite all the possible distractions. In college, our phones will be sitting right next to us while we study. We must be given the opportunity to resist the temptation.

Now, I understand how there could be some hesitation to allow students to use their phones. But the same rules would apply in class that do now. If someone’s phone goes off or they are caught texting, they should get and SBR. They have no reason to be texting in class if they can wait until passing period to do so. If someone’s phone conversation runs long and they’re in the hall and are late for class, they still should get a tardy.

Every change takes getting used to, but this is one STA needs.

check out the poll STA students took on the topic: